Career-high night: Luke Barrett scores 20 points and shoots 9–15 from the field. / Photo by Tod Fierner for SMC Athletics
Luke Barrett Leads Gaels to Conference Opening Victory over Pacific
The Gaels never trail in the 70–60 win, which opens competition in the West Coast Conference. Barrett scores a career-high 20 points and 10 rebounds—and Mitchell Saxen and Paulius Murauskas rack up double-doubles as well.
The Saint Mary's Gaels (11–3, 1–0 WCC) cruised to a West Coast Conference opening victory over the Pacific Tigers (5–10, 0–1 WCC), never trailing in the 70–60 win on Saturday evening. The Gaels took a double-digit lead at the 2:50 mark of the first half and kept that lead at double figures for the remainder of the contest. Every time the Tigers gained some momentum, SMC curtailed it. This is the Gaels third consecutive conference opening victory, their longest streak since they won 10 in a row between the 2007–08 and the 2016–17 seasons.
Luke Barrett led the Gaels with scoring, surpassing his career high with 20 points and shooting 9–15 from the field—another career best. Barrett also recorded his fourth double-double of the season (and his career) with 10 rebounds, including five offensive. As if that wasn't enough, Barrett also had a career-high in assists, with five, and led the team with a pair of steals.
Jordan Ross reached double figures for the first time in nearly a full month, scoring 13 and burying three of four three-point attempts. Mitchell Saxen scored 12 points and 10 rebounds for his 21st career double-double. Paulius Murauskas rounded out the group of three on the double-double front with his seventh in 14 games as a Gael, going for 10 points and 13 rebounds. Augustas Marciulionis came up just short of a double-double with nine points and 11 dimes to just two turnovers. The Gaels ripped down 48 rebounds on the evening, including a season-best 22 offensive boards, and a season-low six turnovers, making sure that Pacific would be unable to seriously mount a comeback attempt following the building of a double-digit lead.
Take the Lead and Don’t Let Go
Saint Mary's never trailed in half one—though the Tigers did keep things tight for the first 13 minutes. Saint Mary's responded with a 17–2 run to close out the half 34–17, taking their largest halftime lead into the break against a Division I foe this season.
Luke Barrett had the biggest impact of any Gael in the first half, with nine points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block while not leaving the floor. Paulius Murauskas was the only Gael with more rebounds than Barrett, ripping down eight. Augustas Marciulionis, like Barrett, didn't leave the floor in the first half and recorded a team-high four assists. After a 7–28 start from the field, the Gaels settled in to connect on four of their final seven field goal attempts. Saint Mary's also demonstrated excellent ball control, with just three turnovers, and no points allowed off of those turnovers.
The Gaels opened their lead out to 21 in the first five minutes and change of the second half before Pacific began to find their footing. The Tigers fervently chipped away at the Saint Mary's lead, but timely buckets at every momentous Tiger juncture helped the Gaels salt away the clock without their lead ever sinking below double digits.
Luke Barrett continued his hot play in the second half, with 11 more points, four more rebounds, three more assists, and another steal. Paulius Murauskas added eight points, five rebounds, and a block, while Mitchell Saxen ripped down five offensive boards to go along with six points. Augustas Marciulionis put up stellar point guard minutes in the second half, with only six points, but seven assists to just one turnover.
It was another cleanly played half for the Gaels, with just three more turnovers to add to the tally. Saint Mary's did have more offensive rebounds than defensive in the second half, with 10 of their 17 boards coming in the offensive variety, leading to 10 second chance points.
Making History, and Those Three Double-Doubles
For the first time in his career, redshirt senior Luke Barrett scored 20 points in a game, besting his previous high of 19, which took place both in last season's non-conference finale against Kent State, as well as earlier this season vs Cal Poly. Barrett connected on 9–15 field goal attempts, setting a new career mark in makes and tying a career-high in attempts. He added 10 rebounds, one off of his career-high in rebounding, and dished out a career best five assists while not turning the ball over once. Defensively, Barrett also recorded a pair of steals and a block, both matching his season high marks. The Piedmont, California, native entered the game leading the country in minutes played per game, and he played the entire first half without leaving the floor. As the lead ballooned in the second half, the SMC coaching staff spared Barrett a few minutes to catch his breath on the bench. He finished playing 35 minutes, a mark he has reached in all but two games this season.
For the third time this season, three Gaels recorded a double-double in a single game: Luke Barrett with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Mitchell Saxen with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Paulius Murauskas with 10 points and a team-best 13 boards. Coming into the season, the Gaels had not recorded a triple double-double since 2011. Saturday night, however, the Gaels came up just one point shy of the first quadruple double-double in program history, with Augustas Marciulionis dishing out 11 assists and scoring nine points. Earlier this season, the Gaels flirted with a quad double-double against UTSA as well, with Marciulionis going for 23 points and 8 assists.
That Stellar Assist to Turnover Ratio
Not only did Saint Mary's tie their season high mark with 23 assists, but the Gaels accomplished this feat with a season-low six turnovers—good for an assist to turnover mark of 3.83. Augustas Marciulionis led the way with 11 assists to just two turnovers, while Luke Barrett, Jordan Ross, and Mikey Lewis combined for nine assists and no turnovers. This is the best ratio for SMC since January 11, 2024, when the Gaels went for 25 assists and just five turnovers against Portland. Saint Mary's has now recorded double-digit assists in 20 consecutive games.
UP NEXT: The Gaels host Pepperdine on January 2. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside UCU Pavilion.
Story updated December 30, 2024 at 10:15 a.m. Pacific
